I had many issues with the kitchen I bought from Wren living. Some of the most troublesome ones came from appliances, and in hindsight I should never have bought my appliances from Wren.

Everything at once

Buying my kitchen and appliances at the same time from the same supplier seemed like a good idea. I’d have one company to deal with, and everything would come at once. If only that were true.

Two of the appliances came three weeks late, and an appliance that was damaged on delivery took nine weeks to be replaced.

Cost is just one consideration

When I shopped around for the appliances I’d bought with my kitchen at Wren I found that I could get them cheaper, though the difference wasn’t generally too bad – tens of pounds not hundreds.

Delivery is the key

The appliances I ordered were generally available online with next day delivery from a range of UK sellers.

Wren don’t do next day delivery. Wren use Swiftcare to do their delivery (when things aren’t coming in their own vans). Swiftcare run a 10 working day service. Within that 10 days you’ll get a call 48hrs before a planned delivery to see if you’ll be home to take it, if not then back to square one. On the day of delivery you’ll get a call about an hour before the (huge) lorry comes.

So Wren saving a few quid on shipping costs means that you can be left waiting weeks for appliances.

Availability is important too

I’ll repeat the point – the appliances I ordered were generally available online with next day delivery from a range of UK sellers. So it was annoying to be left waiting for weeks for Wren to get stock and Swiftcare to come along.

The substitutes

Wren didn’t leave me without. When they couldn’t deliver they sent me CDA brand substitute appliances. In some cases (like the hob) it wasn’t worth the bother to fit another thing, but in others (like the microwave) it was genuinely useful to have the substitute.

When I got substitutes I was told that I could keep them afterwards ‘for the inconvenience’. How it makes business sense to give away hobs, extractors and microwaves when the items the customer wants are available elsewhere for next day delivery remains a mystery to me.